I see Moe as a substance that is consumed for sinful pleasure. It’s like all the junk food out there. Much of that, but not all, tastes pretty good, but too much of it would just lead to some sort of addiction to it. Soon, you’ll find yourself deciding to shun as much of the other stuff as possible.
I’ve never been a fan of too much Moe, simply for a couple of reasons. You can choose to disagree with this, but Moe is killing the taste buds of all those who are involved in the consumption of anime and the like at an alarming rate. Bit by bit, you find that moe dulls its’ audience’s sense of taste towards other kinds of anime and manga; The kind without the fancy art depicting females that fit the bill of whatever Moe is supposed to be.
This dulling of the sense of taste might just be a conspiracy to lower the standards of the general audience towards the forms of media they consume. Even if the standards take a nosedive, as long as the oppais, DFCs, tsunderes and so on hold a presence, there will still be a following for it, no matter how incoherent or abominable the plot is. Gradually, the viewership of a series isn’t decided by how great the plot is, but rather how many hearts, the series or even a single character, can light on passionate fire.
Your antidote to Moe Poisoning
Moe is present just about anywhere within modern day anime and manga. It’s almost impossible to avoid unless you only limit yourself to stuff like Doraemon and Crayon Shin-Chan. Therefore, it’s prefectly alright to consume some of it. In fact, anime wouldn’t be as enjoyable without a bit of Moe sprinkled on it. However, overdosage of it would just result in an addiction. It’s like Coca Cola. Sure, it tastes great, but if you glug too much of it, you’ll soon find yourself drinking nothing but it.
Comparing now to 2 years back when I started on anime as a hobby, I’ve observed that a sort of devolution has taken place. Merely within this time frame, there has been an increase in series that play on Moe as the selling point. What’s even worse is that the element of Moe present is so repetitive, and there isn’t even much effort to make it appear different, what more be different.
While I clearly understand that anime has never been an art form with much originality, with one series spawning based on a single or multiple predecessors, there are still some little elements within anime that are fresh. This statement is made towards anime in general. However, when I look at Moe, or should I say mainstream Moe, I find myself unable to say, “Hey, I found that element refreshing”.
If I were to say, Moe itself has degraded to a pathetic level. It’s like there’s a centralised factory for instant Moe. Checking the predefined checklist to input the parameters and submitting your order, you’ll get your order made Moe character to sell in the market.
Just look back at the older series that contained Moe. Take the original Macross anime as an example, and compare it to a related series such as Macross Frontier. Lynn Minmay as a definition of Moe has now been overthrown when you have Sheryl Nome and Ranka Lee.
The day when Moeblobs wipe out almost all of whatever decent anime remains and rule as the majority would be a sad day indeed.
You seem to like Eva a lot for someone who doens’t like moe. Considering it’s, you know, one of the most moe shows ever.
Anyway, I agree with this post wholly and fully and think that you either don’t understand moe at all or misunderstand it.
Incidentally, I should point you in the direction of my large series of posts on moe.
http://fuzakenna.com/2008/12/18/oh-after-school-session-the-moe-chronicles/
*disagree. Not sure why I said agree.
I don’t really think that the amount of moe series has increased over the past few years. Take 2006, for example, which spawned plenty of different shows that focused solely on moe.
Still, I agree with that final paragraph of yours. It would truly be one sad day.
digitalboy > I disagree that Eva is one of the most Moe shows ever. Really, just compare it to certain current day anime that are filled with almost nothing but moeblobs and tell me that.
psgels > I’m pretty sure that there has been an increase in the number of series orbiting around nothing but Moe. Even if the numbers haven’t gone up too much, I’m certain that the emphasis on Moe has been greatly increased. The role of Moe as a side dish has now evolved, or should I say, devolved into that of a main course.
Moe was what turned me off watching anime back in my early days. I started out with serious stuff like Cowboy Bebop, Haibane Renmai,etc. But I slowly warmed up to Moe shows when they exploded into the scene. I treat it as fluff and I never fell head over heels for any moeblob.
But that’s probably because I’m heading into my 30s and these jailbait material are too immature for my tastes. Heh.
Well Anime like most popular media tends to run in cycles right now Moe is on top. In a couple of years something else will capture the mind of the Otaku masses and we’ll be flooded with show that follow that trend.
There are always a few shows each year that don’t follow the trend. Two that come quickly to mind from 2007 are Claymore and DennÅ Coil. And, those are the ones that tend to become classics that are still well know years later while the flavor of the moment is long forgotten.
Watching Naruto and Bleach dulled my taste. Good thing I dropped those shows.
Anyway for me, MOE is like mushrooms. Some are deadly when consumed, while some makes you feel better. There are millions (exaggerated) of characters who tries to be MOE but fails and that is what is deadly. Some are greatly done and it makes you feel better. However, some excel and I love those types. But then again, most moe characters depend on the plot. So… in the end, everything depends on how the story of the show goes.
MrMayat > So you like the mature kind, eh?
TheGeek > The way I see it, Moe is going to be in the limelight of the market for a very long time.
Bill > Let’s not mention Naruto and Bleach. Please =)
i’m sort of agree with your statement. Everything need to has some balance. Overdosage of moe will, like u said, affect the plot of the anime which is the scenario i dislike. An anime without a good plot is just like watching p***, you just enjoy the “face”, “body” and “action”. However, we can’t just leave the element of moe out of the modern anime. Anime is some sort of fictional reality which give us a lot of imagination and fictional experience. If without moe, we might as well watch TV drama series
Just stop drawing ugly characters (I’m looking at you, Cross Game). Problem solved. Everybody wins.
Why not stop drawing similar lookalike characters and focus on the plot instead? Problem solved. Everyone wins.
Well, what do you mean by mainstream moe in the first place? More importantly, should moe be refreshing? And what makes up a decent anime?
I don’t see this as a problem, myself. But it’s interesting to see the opinions of people essentially saying “Anime sucks today because of too much moe”, to the point of unnecessarily scapegoating it. This is not what you’re doing with this post, but it’s a general observation that I see, and it’s sad for moe to get a bad rap like that.
I see mainstream Moe current day moeblobs that are stuffed into anime for the sake of trying to get people to watch it only for the Moe. I think you’ll understand it better if I compare mainstream Moe to mainstream trash pop music?
Yes, in my opinion, while moe doesn’t need to be totally refreshing, it does need to be slightly unique in a way to be able to differentiate from another. For example, just look at K-ON! and Lucky Star. The 2 are similar moe marketed by packaging with slightly different plots.
Finally, I feel that decent anime should be based on the plot. I don’t really see how stuff like animation and other factors should allow the plot to be compromised.
wow, I didn’t know there was so much hate with moe in general. U’ve been watching anime for years, and to be honest it hasn’t really bothered me that much…I’m not sure why it’s affecting so much people!
Oh thank God! Someone who isn’t completely brainwashed by the scourge of moe! I’m not alone after all!!!